Decision made on Carter Bar liquor license

The owner of a road-side bar in Carter that operated as a strip club from December to March can buy the liquor license for the establishment, the Montana Department of Revenue ruled.(Photo: TRIBUNE PHOTO/JULIA MOSS)Buy Photo

The owner of a road-side bar in Carter that operated as a strip club from December to March can buy the liquor license for the establishment, the Montana Department of Revenue ruled. However, nude dancing can not be part of the business plan when and if the bar reopens.

Don Keil bought the former Rocking K building in Carter, an agriculture community 25 miles north of Great Falls along Highway 87 with a population of 60. He changed the name to Paradise and operated it as a strip club, using Tamara Charles’, the former owner, all-beverage liquor license to serve booze. Keil’s application to buy that liquor license drew 29 formal protests.

That number of protests triggered a hearing, held in March in Fort Benton, the county seat of Chouteau County, in which Carter is located.

Rollie Schlepp, Keil’s son-in-law, testified at that hearing that he and his wife, Jennifer, had obtained a power of attorney to handle all Keil’s financial and business affairs.

“We learned just before Christmas about my father-in-law’s plans and we tried to dissuade him, but he moved forward,” Schlepp said at the hearing. “We find now that we own a bar in Carter, and we would like the liquor license.”

“People sold him on this business model and it doesn’t work,” Schlepp said in March.

When the power of attorney was completed in the beginning of March, the Schlepps closed the bar. Schlepp said then it remained closed due to building issues.

“My father-in-law is not going to run it; he is disinterested,” Schlepp told those in attendance at the hearing. “He knows his daughter loves him and that someone will take care of him as he gets older.”

The Montana Department of Revenue approved the transfer of the liquor license from Charles to Keil, with some stipulations. When the bar reopens, nude or partially nude dancing cannot be part of the business. In addition, Rollie Schlepp will present a business plan for the property to the Montana Department of Revenue within 90 days.

At the hearing in March, Schlepp said he would like to see the Carter bar operate as a family-oriented establishment, with food service. Although he could only speculate on what the business model would be, he told hearing attendees that strippers would not be part of that business model.

Garth Good of Chester was among protesters at that hearing. He testified that he drives a bus for athletic events and was concerned about patrons driving drunk, endangering others on the road.

“I think the people at the hearing felt badly for Rollie and wanted the best for him, but they made it clear they do not want that sort of establishment in Carter,” Good said. “Rollie found himself in an uncomfortable position of fixing something that should not have needed to be fixed.”

Good said many of his fellow protesters at the hearing talked about the Carter bar with affection “when they talked about how it was operated by previous owners. I think it would be a nice fixture in that community if they can find a way to make that business model work again for Carter.”

Karen Bryant of Floweree, a small community near Carter, acted as the spokeswoman for many of the protesters at the March hearing.

“I think it appears to be a win/win for both sides,” Bryant wrote in an email after reading the ruling.

The Tribune reached Schlepp on Tuesday afternoon, but he had not read the decision yet and declined to comment at that time.